All-stars fall to Mount Vernon, 15-5

By KEVIN LEWIS Herald Editor

Published 6:51 am, Friday, August 20, 2010

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All-stars fall to Mount Vernon, 15-5

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LEVELLAND - Kevin Riley isn't too concerned for the future of his team of 13-year-old all-stars after they dropped their opening game to cap a very long day and night at the Babe Ruth World Series on Thursday.

"We'll bounce back," Riley, the team manager, said. "Kids are very resilient."

Before they take the field again at 8 p.m. today against Tallahassee, Fla. (1230-AM or www.levellandworldseries.com), Plainview needs to recover both from a 15-5, five-inning loss to Mount Vernon, Ohio, and an extended night that saw the team arrive back in Plainview around 1 a.m. today.

The late night came after one of the three earlier games lasted close to four hours. Scheduled to start at 8 p.m. Thursday after all 10 teams gathered on the field at Levelland High School for opening ceremonies, Plainview's game started about 90 minutes late.

And then it took Plainview another hour or so to actually get going.

After Mount Vernon scored one run in each of the first two innings, the Ohio Valley representative erupted for six runs in the third before putting up another five in the fourth. They did it through a combination of their own offensive prowess (12 hits) plus Plainview mistakes (four errors) and shaky pitching (10 walks).

"We played tight," Riley said. "We're capable of playing a lot better than that."

At times they did, especially at the plate in the fourth and fifth innings when Plainview showed great heart and tried to fight its back into the game.

At other times, though, nerves got the best of Plainview.

"We made way too many errors," said starting pitcher Kailum Orozco. "We were just too anxious, too excited."First baseman John Michael Calderon agreed.

"What killed us was errors," said Calderon, who received the game MVP award for Plain view after collecting two of the team's four hits to go with two RBIs and a run scored.

Calderon's first hit came in the top of the first inning against Mount Vernon's left-handed pitcher Alex Arch. But Calderon and Sean Sanchez, who walked, were stranded.

While Plainview didn't get another runner on base until the fourth inning, Mount Vernon slowly figured out Orozco's pitching. After scoring one run and leaving two on board in each of the first two frames, Mount Vernon's bats really came to life in the third.

The Ohioans opened the inning with two singles and a double then later added three singles and another double. After Mount Vernon batted through the order, Riley called on Tyler Beasley to relieve Orozco, and Beasley managed to get Plainview, which also committed three errors in the inning, out of the third trailing 8-0.

"We made some spectacular plays, but a few easy ones got away from us," Riley said.

Calderon, after a walk, and Orozco, who got on base on an error, both scored in the top of the fourth for Plainview, but Mount Vernon's hitters picked up where they left off when they got back at the plate. They slapped another double and two singles, and Plainview didn't help itself when Beasley and reliever Drew Wilkinson issued three walks, and Plainview committed its fourth error of the game.

Down 13-2 and facing defeat by the 10-run mercy rule, Plainview scrambled to score three runs in the fifth. After Beasley opened with a single, Wilkinson boarded via a fielder's choice before Sean Sanchez singled to load the bases. Orozco struck out, but clean-up hitter Calderon found a hole in right-centerfield to drive in Beasley and Wilkinson. Sanchez later scored on a wild pitch before Arch, who struck out seven while walking just two, found his touch again.

The runs only delayed the mercy-rule win, though, as Mount Vernon, on the strength of three walks and a surprise-hop single to shortstop, scored twice to end the game with two outs in the fifth.

After facing Tallahassee, which beat College Point, N.Y., 4-3, tonight, Plainview faces College Point at 4 p.m. Saturday. The locals wind up pool play at 7:30 p.m. Monday against East Boise, Idaho.

The top three of those five teams advance to single-elimination bracket play starting Tuesday against the top three teams from the National Division. In that pool Thursday, host Levelland lost to Kenner, La., 5-1, while Manchester, N.Y., defeated Maplewood, Minn., 17-5.

(Contact Kevin Lewis at 806-296-1353 or kwlewis@hearstnp.com. Follow him on Facebook.)